Kay Niebank

Developmental Science: Integrating Knowledge About Dynamic Processes in Human Development

There is an increasing need to develop an interdisciplinary model that describes the dynamic processes in human development. During the last decades several different theories depicting dynamic developmental processes have been formulated. In this chapter we briefly introduce these approaches and argue that developmental systems perspective (DSP) is one of the more promising approaches to depict how developmental patterns arise. Furthermore, we argue, that Developmental Science—an integrative, interdisciplinary framework—is a useful approach to account for the interplay of changes in individuals across the life span and thereby considering psychological, biological, social, societal, historical and cultural levels and their interdependent systems. We end by formulating strategies we foresee to be useful for all researchers who want to implement the principles of developmental science and developmental system perspective into their work.

Effects of Allergen Avoidance at High Altitude on Children with Asthma or Atopic Dermatitis

Patients with atopic diseases benefit from a high-altitude climate, the effectiveness of which may be related to established house dust mite allergy. A relationship between these variables and disease severity as well as inflammatory activity has not been previously studied. The study objectives were: (1) to assess changes in inflammatory levels for children and adolescents with asthma or atopic dermatitis during a 4-week inpatient rehabilitation stay at high altitude, (2) to examine the role of house dust mite sensitization, and (3) to compare the results for the two diagnostic groups. A total of 115 children and adolescents aged 10-16 years were enrolled in the study: 60 suffered from asthma and 55 from atopic dermatitis. The prevalence of house dust mite sensitization was 36.52%. Urine and blood samples were collected on admission to an inpatient rehabilitation clinic and at their discharge 1 month later. Urinary eosinophil protein X (U-EPX) and serum eosinophil cationic protein (S-EPC)-levels were ana...